Too dark a red spinel?

[milton333]

I''ve been looking at red spinels, and I''m not entirely sure I know what is the "best" color saturation or hue for this stone. I know that red spinels can be, well, "poor man''s rubies," and that several royal "rubies" are actually spinels. I''ve seen some that have a light red with a slight hue of fuscia that is reminiscent of rubies. Most of the red spinels that I''ve seen for sale, though, seem more like garnets. Some of that may be a function of poor, native cut, but does anyone have a picture of what I should be looking for in a good red spinel, in terms of hue and saturation? Should a spinel look more like a ruby, or just a pale red color? I don''t want it to be mistaken for a garnet, but beyond that I guess I''m not sure what I should be looking for.

 

[movie zombie]

look like garnets?! good garnets and good spinels look nothing like ''bad'' garnets and/or spinels. most garnets put out to the mass market are probably what you''re referencing: dark and devoid of sparkle. i keep saying it and it still remains true: you get what you pay for....whether its a diamond, garnet, or spinel.

ok, i''m off the rant.....but i became a garnet junkie after learning what constitutes a good one.

go to palagems.com and look at their spinels. a really fine spinel will have no extinction going on and be very vivid. it can also costs thousands per carat. extinction is caused by poor cutting and gives the stone that dark, black look. however, oversaturation of color is nasty, too. most are not willing to pay the $$$$$ to get a fine spinel and will make a compromise or two or three just to say they have one. personally, i just cannot abide extinction and would rather do without than to have a stone with it.

movie zombie, raving garnet lunatic.

ps if you''re looking for a ruby substitute, try tourmaline rubellite: http://www.palagems.com/php/db_search.php?action=newstock those two look like candy!

 

[Pandora II]

Fellow raving garnet loony here...

Expressions like ''poor man''s rubies'' are about as obsolete as talking about precious versus semi-precious. There is no such distinction. You can pay $10 for a crap ruby and you can pay $$$$ for a fine spinel or garnet.

With coloured stones, you get what you pay for. I prefer to save my pennies and drop size to get the best possible piece available, rather than buy cheapy rocks that don''t have the same qualities. Hence why I don''t even look at rubies (when I win the lottery I might start!

).

Only you will know your parameters. I can''t stand windows or bad cut - and I don''t like extinction (though not to the same degree as MZ!) and hate ''grayish'' stones. Colour saturation is a huge deal for me.

If I had a lot of $$$$$ available, I would be tempted to take a closer look at this one from Palagems:

 

[Harriet]

For colour, look at this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Certified-Red-Spinel-4-13-Carats-2500-Per-Carat_W0QQitemZ120207409190QQihZ002QQcategoryZ110873QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Pandora,
What's the inventory number of the Pala one? I may have viewed it.

 

[movie zombie]

nice spinels!

even the ebay one has the price tag to go with it! it it really is as it looks on my monitor, it is a bargain at $2500 per carat.

ah, i remember the days when i though spinel was an imitation, man-made, synthetic stone..........

movie zombie

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 2/9/2008 11:33:00 AM
Author: Harriet

Pandora,
What''s the inventory number of the Pala one? I may have viewed it.

12770

It''s got an AGL cert as well.

Is that a new tsavorite in your avatar?

If so my dear, where is your post with more pictures and stats????

 

[Harriet]

Ah, then I've seen that one.

No comment.

 

[marcy]

I have to add my 2 cents worth as I adore garnets - but those are the garnets that are bright, well cut and nice color. They are AWESOME. Spinels are awesome too.

To answer the original question - a good spinel should look as rich and red as a ruby and cost a pretty penny. But you do get what you pay for.